Why not?
by trombob
Summary: My first fanfiction of any kind.  Please comment on what you think of it.Toph ponders over if she has a crush on Sokka, and decides to make an informed decision based on his appearance.


085 Why

"Why do I like him?" Toph whispered to herself inside her earth tent, knees brought up to her chin and arms embracing her legs. She sat with her back against one of the walls of the tent as if she couldn't support herself otherwise, her toes clenched at the ground trying to grasp some dirt in order to distract her mind from the trivial troubles of her heart.

They had set up for camp earlier in the day in the canyon, thinking that Aang needed some rest after having earth bended for the first time. She chuckled to herself while reminiscing about the day's training, and how much trouble he had with learning such basic concepts that a little blind girl could manage. That chuckle stopped once she heard a familiar snore outside of her tent that brought her back to the present.

"Sokka…" she whispered to herself, clenching her arms even tighter around her legs. She knew she was being silly, liking a boy she has known but for a few weeks, is three years older than her and she can't even see what he looks like. Then why if she knew, didn't the knot in her stomach loosen? She let go of her legs and lied back down on the dry ground, trying for the third time to fall asleep. She has never had so much trouble falling asleep before, mostly because there wasn't much to keep her awake. But her usual dark sight has currently been replaced by a sketchy silhouette of a certain water tribe boy, as far as she knew he looked. She hadn't had a chance to get to know what he looks like, except for the fact that he has a pony tail that she oh so not gently pulled to get him out of the hole he was stuck in.

"It was so smooth" she stated while rolling to her left side, and curling her own hair while thinking of Sokka's. Then she remembered how she had gotten a slight visual image of him while he was stuck in that hole, since he was surrounded by earth. So she knew now that he was about a head taller than her, had some alright muscles (The Boulder could have helped him bench press is all she's saying) and some rough textured clothes made from some animal she wasn't familiar with, probably native to the South Pole.

The one thing she didn't know too well was his face.

She sat up quickly, eyes opening up even though it did nothing. "What does his face look like?" she mouthed with her lips as the thought of that point.

"I can't make an informed decision whether I like him or not unless I know what his face looks like," she reasoned as she crawled outside of her tent and stood up, dusting her knees off. She could feel on her skin that it must have been very late, since it was really cool, and she felt from her friends' heartbeats vibrating through the ground that they were sleeping peacefully. She tip toed over to the sleeping bag that contained the ever snoring Sokka, careful as not to trip and give away her aim. She knelt down when she arrived at his left side, placed her hands on her knees and pondered for a moment.

"Alright, lets see what Sokka looks like, so I can get rid of this stupid crush" she said very clearly to herself, and through trembling fingers, she touched his nose.

"Snrglffth"

Toph jumped back and landed on her rear, her heart beating as if trying to break through her ribs and run of to some distant land. Had Sokka woken up Toph might have done the same thing. Fortunately, it seemed Sokka was just a little sensitive around his nose, but at least she got some progress from it.

"Small stubby nose, very sensitive" she noted to herself and crouched over to Sokka's side again, feeling confident again. She placed a little more eagerly this time both her index fingers on is eyelids, lightly so she didn't push them inside and hurt him.

"Smooth and plain eyelids, and short little eyelashes" Toph made sure to remember as her fingers treaded upwards past his scruffy but well aligned eye brows to his enormous forehead. She felt a little more daring and place her entire right hand on his forehead as to feel his thoughts reverberating out from it.

"Smooth, large forehead, seemingly pulsating with thought" she gathered before continuing to the sides of his head and gently nudging his ears. They were pretty large, sticking out just like that. They reminded her or a Rabiroo she got for her 8th birthday by her parents. She snickered a little for herself, trying to quiet herself down in order not to wake anybody. She tugged gently at the nubs of the ears and squeezed a bit just to feel them between her fingers.

"Cute cuddly ears" she smiled to herself as her fingers traveled to her last destination, a certain slit on his face where all his sarcasm just poured out. She trembled tremendously as her right index finger was just above his upper lip, and then placed it decisively down. It was surprisingly smooth, as if he has never bitten on them or cut them in a fight or whatnot. She felt her own lips with her left hand, feeling how rough they had become from all her training with the badgermoles when she was still just a kid and the resulting Earth Rumble tournaments. She shook her head as to remind her to finish the task at hand. She slid her finger left to right on his upper lip until she was sure she remembered it, and then she did the same to the bottom lip.

Just then something really wet touched her finger.

She jumped back for the second time that night only twice as far as last time, her heart racing throughout her whole body and she sweated enough to supply Aang and Katara with water to practice water bending. She heard some licking noises coming from Sokka and a satisfied "pah" as his lips just popped open and he turned to his right burying his face in his pillow.

Toph walked over to her earth tent once more, her mind drawing a blank. She sat down in the middle of it, staring into nothingness. She lifted her wet right index finger up to her nose, smelled it, and lied down, falling asleep with a smile on her face.

"Why shouldn't I like him?"


End file.
